Netflix announces new ‘Smart Downloads’ feature

The streaming giant Netflix has announced a new feature named ‘Smart Downloads’, which aims to take a bit of the faff out of taking your favourite content on the go.

“Now, when you finish watching a downloaded episode, Smart Downloads will delete it, and then automatically download the next episode”, a statement from Netflix explained. “You watch, we do the work” appears to be the mantra at play here.

“We know how annoying it can be to go through all your apps and delete files you no longer need; we also understand that when it comes to Netflix, the faster you can get to the next episode you want to watch, the better”, Netflix’s director of product innovation, Cameron Johnson, added.

“Whether it is smart downloading or viewing a mobile preview, we realize the best part of Netflix is connecting with the stories you will love in an easier and more fun way.”

“Smart Downloads is available on Android phones and tablets running the latest version of the Netflix app. The Smart Downloads feature only turns on when you’re connected to Wi-Fi, so your data plan will never be used, and it won’t impact your device storage, because it will always delete the last watched episode before downloading the next one.”

The help page also stressed that Smart Downloads is optional. “If you would rather keep watched episodes on your device,” the page tells us, “you will need to turn off Smart Downloads so you can manually manage your downloaded content.”